Baby Blue's
by Moderndaydrifter
Summary: How would Coach Taylor act those last few weeks of his wife’s pregnancy?


**_A/N: _**_This story came to me randomly when I was talking to a friend about the pregnancy on the show. This is my take on how Coach Taylor might react to all of the pregnancy, as well as the delivery of their new child. I tried to make it humorous, I hope you find it somewhat funny!_

**_Spoilers: _**_The season finale. _

**_Disclaimer: _**_I don't own the characters, I just borrow them for a little while and return them._

**_Summary: _**_How would Coach Taylor act those last few weeks of his wife's pregnancy?_

**Baby Blue's**

Tami Taylor was pregnant. Very pregnant. It became that much more of a reality to Eric the past few months when he noticed just how big his wife actually got. It's not like it was a "bad" weight gain, she was in fact carrying his kid but he honestly couldn't remember her getting that huge with Julie. Then again, that was fifteen years ago, and the memories seem to dwindle out of a man's mind as each year passes by.

She really was beautiful when she was pregnant, but he was so used to her slender body that it was different. That old cliché was true, she definitely was glowing. He never understood it when others said it about other people but now it all came in to perspective for him. He could tell she was miserable, as each day passed. One morning she'd fit in to a pair of jeans and then a few hours later they were extremely tight. Amazing how quickly things grow, especially in the last month of a pregnancy.

Thank goodness it was the last month. She was 8 months pregnant and ready to blast off at any moment. Eric was prepared. He had done it once before with the birth of Julie but sadly he was a nervous wreck the entire time they were in the labor and delivery room. He was at Tami's side the entire time, taking her curses and cut downs as she screamed out in pain.

_"Why did you do this to me you bastard!"_

_"I'm never having sex with you again!"_

He laughed at the memories that were flashing in his mind. She had even broken a few fingers on his left hand from squeezing it during each contraction, but that was a small consolation to the pain she was obviously going through. Of course, all of the pain dissipated the moment Julie was born; the site of their new beautiful baby girl was the best painkiller in the world.

Now in a few short weeks they'd be experiencing almost the same situation. One question lingered over his head… Was he ready for this again?

* * *

"Sugar, I've got that appointment with Dr. Jameson this afternoon, are you going to be able to come with me?" Tami reclined back in her rocking chair, fanning herself. It was only about 75 outside but it was magnified to her since she was lugging around another human being.

"Didn't you just go last week?" Eric was about sick of the doctor, they were always talking about preparation, complications that could happen in delivery because of Tami being in her forties, things that just made his stress level higher.

Tami arched her eyebrow, noticing the hesitation in his voice. "It's my last month, you go every week up until delivery."

He nodded. "I'll go. I've got nothing going on this afternoon. Maybe he'll say it's time and we can get this over with. You look miserable." He had totally forgot how emotional women could get, their hormones raging out of control because of the craziness the body was enduring.

Thankfully Tami could control it a little better now that they were this far in. "You don't look like prince charming yourself, Coach Taylor." She closed her eyes, feeling a strong kick from the baby. It was to the point that you could literally see the foot push out her stomach.

'A few more weeks,' He thought to himself, staying silent, keeping his eyes on the TV in fear of causing a stupid fight.

The doctor's office was extremely clean. They did a good job keeping it professional but also maintaining a casual atmosphere. They had been so much in the past eight months that Eric was memorizing pretty much every crack and crevice in the wall, as well as all of the other expectant couples that came in as well. They were all going through the same torture, well torture was a strong word, and he was just paranoid about how he'd act when it came time for the baby to come.

"Tami Taylor." The nurse peeked out from behind some swinging doors, calling them back for her checkup.

The checkup was obviously a quick one. Dr. Jameson just wanted to check the weight of both the baby and Tami as well as if she began to dilate. Eric always seemed to pace back and forth; he never could sit still.

"Do you still want the sex of the baby to be a surprise?" The doctor peered over his clipboard as he jotted down some notes.

"Yes, I think we can last a couple more weeks." Tami grinned, she was definitely excited. "So has anything changed?"

He nodded, putting his paperwork down. His facial expression made Eric's heart skip a beat. Why did doctors have to do that? They all had this certain look they flashed you when you asked a loaded question. It's almost as if they had a certain class in medical school they were required to take on how to practice expressions, this one must've been a course on how to make the father have a heart attack.

'You are being ridiculous', he told himself.

"I think you will go into labor quicker than a few weeks. We overshot your due date a bit. The baby is already up to 6 pounds, and as you know that's a pretty safe weight for it to be born at this moment, but we are going to wait until your body is ready. The longer it stays in the better, unless it gets too big to make it dangerous for you, then we will have to induce."

Eric remained quiet. He was always scared to ask questions in fear of sounding stupid. The only thing he was familiar with was that his baby was coming soon, sex caused this, and he was a mess. That's all he really wanted to know, he could leave the rest to Tami and the doctors.

"You are also dilated to a 2. That means it's not bad enough to put you in the hospital, but be expected to go into full labor at any time. Stay here in Dillon, don't do any hard house work or anything. Just relax and be prepared. Walking is a good thing to do if you get antsy and want to get out and do something, just stay near some form of transportation."

It sounded as if she was a time bomb, ready to blow. Eric nodded, taking in everything the doctor was saying. He was relieved to get out of that clinic. He wasn't even sure why he was getting so overwhelmed but Tami could read him like a book.

"Hon, you look a little pale. You okay?"

"Fine, I just need a nap." He knew he wasn't fooling her but thankfully she didn't press the matter.

* * *

The doctor was right. They had to be ready at any time for the labor to come on, because it happened one idle evening, an evening that started out like all of the rest of them. Tami was preparing dinner, Coach was watching game film, and Julie was tucked away in her room, listening to her music and chatting on her cell phone.

"EEERIIIC!" A yell could be heard from the kitchen, causing him to shoot up out of his recliner like a bottle rocket on the fourth of July. Running in to the kitchen, an almost comedic scene was revealed in front of him. Tami was leaning against the cabinet, her sweat pants soaked in water.

"Oh my God." Eric couldn't think of anything else to say, it's as if the part of his brain that controlled speaking had dissolved. "Are you…supposed to do that?" That comment made him wish he could just suck the words back in to his mouth. He had done this before, of course she was supposed to do that! Your mind does weird things in situations out of the ordinary though, making you say idiotic things.

"Yes I'm supposed to do this you idiot! Help me to the truck!"

Here came the cut downs. He didn't care though; he was almost numb fighting off the urge to puke. He just stood there, his eyes wide in shock. The look on his face was priceless. His second born was on its way. Oh yeah, his first born. She had no idea what was going on. She didn't even hear her mom's painful shrieks because of her damn music she had blaring.

"JULIE!" He yelled as he grabbed Tami, propping her up as he helped her move towards the front door. His daughter revealed herself in the hallway, the phone still glued to her ear. "Get off of the phone, we are taking your mom to the hospital."

"I gotta go, my mom is having the baby!" She quickly closed the face of the phone, grabbing her mom's other arm as they both escorted her to the Ford Explorer parked out on the driveway.

If there was anyone watching it would almost be like watching a sitcom on TV. Eric and Julie were both running around as if they were chicken's with their head cut off while Tami sat in the passenger side, each contraction coming more close together. Eric ran a complete circle around the vehicle, passing Julie a few times as she stood and watched the side show. His adrenaline was pumping until he finally realized he needed to actually get in and drive to Dillon Regional Medical Center.

"Eric would you please just go before I have YOUR baby right here in the FLOORBOARD!"

At first he put the car in to drive, coming just a few inches away from Tami's car before he realized he had to go backwards. Wiping some sweat off of his forehead, he gave out a nervous laugh, trying to play it cool in front of the women in his life. He didn't even mind the speed limits as they made there way down the residential streets of the small town. Posted signs said 20 and he was going well over 45. What he least expected, and the last thing they needed at the moment…blue lights flashing in his rearview mirror.

"Dammit!" He quickly pulled over and got out, hoping this cop would understand and let them go. "Officer, my wife is in labor, we've gotta hurry."

The cop slowly walked with him to the front of the vehicle. "Coach Taylor, I need you to get back in while I assess the situation."

Eric smirked. "Assess the situation? Look in the passenger side, which'll be enough evidence for you. I have a screaming wife in there that isn't going to take slack from anyone. Go ahead, see for yourself."

The officer didn't even want to risk his life, he knew how women were in labor. "Go ahead, I'll escort you in."

A few minutes later they were walking through the emergency doors of the hospital. Julie stood back, everything was happening so fast and her excitement got the best of her. She had mixed emotions about having a sibling, but was handling it pretty well for a teenager.

Eric held his wife's hands, the memory of the bones breaking flashed back in front of him again. He couldn't even remember going up to the labor and delivery floor, everything was such a blur. People kept asking him if he was okay but all he could say was, "Worry about my wife, I'm fine."

"She's crowning!" One of the nurses yelled to anyone who would listen.

Crowning? Eric had been through this before but it had been so long it was like he was a first time father again. He felt pain shoot through his body as Tami squeezed on hard as one of her strongest contractions happened.

A nurse student noticed the look on Eric's face, stopping what she was doing to see if she could assist him. "Sir, do you need to sit down?"

Eric had a dazed look on his face, and his mouth was extremely dry. The room began to spin and the last thing he remembered seeing was that young student's face saying something he couldn't make out, and then he fainted, his body hitting the floor with a loud thud.

When he woke up a few people were standing around, but from what he could tell he was in the same room he was before the black out happened. There wasn't as much commotion going on and he couldn't hear Tami anymore.

"Where's my wife?" He tried sitting up, but someone held his head down on the cold floor.

"Sir, you just fainted, we advise you get up nice and slow."

He tried pushing his head up again, this time whoever it was restraining him allowed him to do it. "How long was I out?"

"Not long, a couple of seconds." It was the same student he had seen moments before.

"How's my wife?" That's all he cared about, he didn't care that he had just passed out.

"She's right here, still in labor." The student put a chair beside the bed, helping Eric in to it. He felt so stupid, his wife was next to him giving birth for Christ's sake and he was the one that fainted. He felt like a baby himself; he just never was that tolerant to hospitals, medicine, and needles for that matter.

He saw Tami, looking more relaxed. They had given her some painkiller and the good news was the delivery was almost over. He grabbed her hand again, very embarrassed about what he had just done. It would definitely be something to laugh about later.

"One more big push Tami!" Dr. Jameson was there; the baby was almost fully out. "One more and you'll be done!"

She pushed as hard as she could, and the sound of a baby cry could be heard through all of the commotion. All of his nervousness dwindled away as well as the nausea and all of the other crap he was feeling. The baby had a head full of dark brown hair.

"Say hello to your new baby BOY!" The nurse held him up, revealing the baby to the 2 proud parents.

It's amazing how soon all of your emotions before the baby arrived go away the moment the baby is brought in to the world. Eric and Tami sat there in that very room, holding their new baby boy for the first time. 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and 20 inches long, he was perfect in every way.

Julie came in, seeing her little brother for the first time. She couldn't help but laugh; he was the cutest thing.

"Welcome sleepless nights." She had to be her teenage self despite the fact that she was thrilled.

Eric looked up, his eyes red from a few tears. "Say hi to Chandler."

"He looks just like you, Eric. Dark hair and everything." Tami ran her index finger down the small nose of Chandler, who was now sleeping.

"I guess it's only fitting. Julie got your looks, now it's my turn."

It was over. Now it was that time in their life again for bottles and diapers, baby wipes and pacifiers. Eric wasn't sure why he acted the way he did, probably just nerves. It had been so long since they had a baby in the house, and he freaked out for a few reasons. One was stated above, that he was not a fan of pain, hospitals, doctors or medicine, hence the fact he fainted. The other was that he loved his family so much, he wanted everything to be perfect. He had so much pride for the Taylor family that he was scared he'd mess up which was every parent's fear. Once Chandler came he was reassured that everything was fine, and a new blessing had came in to their lives.

_THE END…hope you enjoyed it!_


End file.
